World at War
by XxLostGirlXx
Summary: Bella and Emmett go in search of their missing Father, what should be a relatively easy task puts Bella's life in grave danger. What if, before she was even born she was chosen to be a pawn in somebody else's demonic plan. Alice/Bella pairing.
1. Introduction

Disclaimer - Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

World at War 

Intro

"Mom" I question rubbing my tired eyes trying to make them adjust to the dim light in my nursery "Mom" I ask again this time stepping towards her as she stands in front of my childhood cot with her back towards me. I notice the room I'm in from old photos that my grandma used to show me years back. The light pink wallpaper dimmed from the night's eerie darkness. The only source of light coming from a Mickey Mouse night light in the corner of the small room.

"Isabella" she whispers and I watch as she reaches down, her hand disappearing behind the bars of my cot. "It's all your fault" frowning I shake my head confused by her words, and just as I am about to question her she speaks again, "I wish you were never born" the words sting and my heart breaks as her declaration seeps into me making me physically shiver. I want to cry yet no tears fall, I want to scream, demand an explanation, yet no words come. I am frozen to the spot unable to move, forced to stay and listen as my mother speaks words no child should ever hear.

Then she turns but what I see isn't my mother, instead my father's lifeless eyes settle on me and his expression is one of pure disgust and hatred "It's your fault I am dead" he sneers, and with one single blink his eyes are suddenly a cruel black abyss.

I start to back away out of the room but my father starts after me slowly, a dreadful smirk forming on his face "I'll see you soon Isabella"

"MISS SWAN" I jolt awake my head swiveling from side to side, as I try to register what is happening. When my eyes settle on my middle-aged lecturer, Mr. Trimmings I suddenly remember that I'm in my Criminal Law class "the rest of your class left two minutes ago, I suggest you rush before you're late for your next lecture" he advises whilst walking up the steps towards the door.

"I will Mr. Trimmings," I mumble quickly packing my notes away into my bag and standing to throw it over my shoulder. Walking through the corridors, I pass people in a daze, still a little shaken from my apparent nightmare and my mother's words. I try to tell myself that she would never say those kinds of things, but I am always reminded about the fact that she died in my nursery.

_Is it my fault?_

"Bella" I hear the voice of my girlfriend call from behind me, turning my head I look over my shoulder to see her dodging people at a steady jog as she tries to reach me "hey" she breathes when she slows to a walk beside me, brushing the dark bangs that have fallen from her run behind her ear.

"Hey babe" I say with a smile, bending slightly to accommodate her 5'4 frame and kiss her on the cheek "how was class"

"Good…boring" she adds a heartbeat later with her trademark grin, chuckling I shake my head as my girlfriend of seven months starts to talk about our plans for tonight. I hardly pay attention, like always because I know that whatever she wants to do is what we will end up doing anyway, my input is very rarely needed.

"Sounds great what time you need me," I ask stopping outside of my next class.

"Oh you can bring your fine self over an hour before we leave," she breathes playing with one of the buttons on my leather jacket.

"An hour huh" I smirk.

"Mhm…plus bring this" she says tugging gently on my jacket as she bites her bottom lip, her brown eyes looking me up and down hungrily.

"Sara" I whisper moving to rest my forehead against hers "how am I supposed to concentrate now" I question slowly leaning into kiss her but she ducks away out of my reach giggling, "tease" I hiss playfully as she winks and walks away down the corridor.

XXXXX

I fidget throughout my last two lessons, imagining all the things I'm going to do to Sara when I get my hands on her. As I walk through the grounds of campus I think of all the times she has done this to me, which is quite often I have to say. Smiling to myself, I make my way towards the dorm rooms so wrapped up in my thoughts that I do not see the dark blue, Shelby Mustang GT 350e parked outside "Bella" a familiar voice calls out as I climb the steps to the building.

Turning on the spot I find my brother who I haven't seen in almost two years leaning against Dad's car "Emmett" I ask in disbelief, I slowly make my way towards him and as I do I'm slightly undecided on whether I'm happy or angry to see him here.

"Yep the one and only" he says with his cheeky grin.

"What's going on, I mean why are you here?" I question coming to a stop in front of him.

"What can't a big brother visit his sister every once in a while" he says still with that stupid ass grin plastered across his face.

"Once in what" I mutter sarcastically as I shove my hands in my jacket pockets "two years Emmett, look I'm pretty busy so whatever you're here for be quick about it"

"Mhm, busy with that hot Chinese girl you're banging huh"

"Fuck you," I swear taking a swing at him, but he easily dodges my attempt seen as my hand is briefly caught in my pocket.

"Easy there Bella you don't want to break a nail" he chides jokingly "besides that you're a little rusty when was the last time you trained"

"I can still beat your ass," I mumble defensively whilst glaring at him, he sobers for a second before shaking his head.

"A girl could never beat me," he declares puffing out his chest and this time it is me shaking my head in pure disbelief. Two years I haven't seen him and he turns up outside my dorm acting as if we had only spoken yesterday. Sighing I run my fingers through my mid-length hair before looking up at him with a blank expression, waiting for some form of explanation to come from the ape of a man in front of me.

His face suddenly becomes serious after a minute of two "Dad's missing," he says as if it is as simple as Dad popping out for a pint of milk.

"Missing as in he went on a hunting trip missing" I ask trying not to worry too much just yet. I mean when we were little he used to leave Emmett and me for days on our own whilst he went hunting with friends.

"Yeah" he says walking over to the trunk of the Shelby "I last heard from him a week ago" popping the trunk he lifts the parcel shelf, which hides all of his hunting equipment. Huffing he trifles through the mess for a second before producing a map "he was in Ohio last time I heard" he explains tapping a spot on the map quickly before folding it back up. "I spoke to a few of Dads contacts but nobodies heard from him" he finishes.

"Look are you sure about this, I mean Dads track record about telling us where he's going is shady in the least" I try and reason, but Emmett stubbornly shakes his head as he closes the trunk.

"He would let me know, look I came here to ask for your help with this one" he mutters looking anywhere but at me, this is when I know that something must be up because I know him asking me this is just killing him.

"I can't just drop everything Emmett, he's just probably got caught up in the hunt you know what he's like"

"This is Dad we're talking about here Bella, this isn't just some regular hunting trip so please, I'm asking for your help here"

XXX

Ten minutes later and having agreed to go with Emmett I find myself outside of Sara's dorm knocking on her door. Opening it a second later a surprised smile spreads across her face "Your early baby" she coos tugging me towards her by my top "but I was just thinking about you so its perfect timing" she whispers kissing up my neck.

"Mmm, S-Sara I need to talk to you" I breathe out holding her at arm's length "my brothers here"

"Emmett" she asks taking me by the hand and leading me further into her dorm "why"

"My Dad is hunting in Ohio but he hasn't checked in for like a week so Emmett's getting all hormonal on me" I explain moving to sit down next to her "he wants me to head out with him to see what's up".

"Has he phoned the police?" she asks as she grabs both my hands and rubs my wrists with her thumbs gently.

"Not that I know of, Emmett's probably worried that if he turns up safe and sound Dad will kick his ass for wasting police time" I chuckle to myself as I remember all the times Dad told us to never bother the police unless someone was literally banging down our door.

"Still I think you should call them, I mean it's well over the twenty four hour period. Plus you remember the news report we saw last night about all those disappearances" she asks and I start to smirk slowly as I remember something much more interesting that happened last night "really Bella" she says with a shaky laugh "your Dads missing and sex is all you can think about"

"Babe my Dad is doing either one of two things, he could be looking into the bottom of an empty glass or so engrossed in the hunt that he's lost track of time" glancing away I look out of her window to see that its started to rain. "Besides all those disappearances are happening here not Ohio" I say as I watch the tiny droplets running down the glass and I feel myself starting to get lost in my own thoughts.

My dream earlier was more than a little weird, maybe seeing my Dad like that was a warning, but I've never been a suppositious person so I shrug it off before I even start to contemplate the idea.

"Ok, alright we won't phone the police but I'm coming with you"

"No Sara its fine" I say turning my attention back to her "you go to the party and enjoy yourself, we'll just find him and take him home I'll be back by Monday I promise"

"I don't like this" she mumbles as she squeezes my hands "I don't like it one bit"

"Hey" I soothe bringing her hands up to my lips "I'm going to be fine, I'll check in with you every hour if it makes you feel better" I say as I place gentle kisses across her knuckles.

"Every hour" she hums leaning into kiss me, her soft lips moving against mine slowly, "do we have time?" she pants against my neck as she moves down caressing my skin with her lips.

"God yes" I moan out cupping her cheeks with both hands and ducking my head to kiss her desperately, her hands move down to grasp the underside of my thighs picking me up as she stands. She walks over towards her bed and places me down carefully whilst moving to lie down on top of me at the same time.

"I love you" she declares softly, her hands guiding my jacket and top off so I'm in nothing but my bra.

"I love you too babe" I reply leaning up to kiss her again, my tongue running across her bottom lip making a moan rise from her throat. She opens her mouth and just as my tongue touches hers, we are startled apart by someone rapping against the door.

"Bella come on" Emmett's gruff voice calls through the door, groaning I wrap my arms around her waist, holding her to me as she pants against my shoulder.

"Brother" she asks placing light kisses across my shoulder to my collarbone.

"Yeah, I'm sorry" I say and can feel her smiling against my skin, she moves up to kiss underneath my chin then briefly my lips.

"Its ok" she mumbles closing her eyes as she leans her forehead against mine "you owe me when you get back though"

"Bella" Emmett calls again and his voice just pisses me off.

"I'M COMING"

* * *

A/N - Please let me know what you guys think.

XxLostGirlXx


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer - Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

World at War

I

I glare over at my brother for what feels like the hundredth time since getting in the car. My mood since leaving Stanford has slowly been deteriorating as the hours tick by. Huffing I unfold my arms from their crossed position and start to tap my knee impatiently "Would you give it a rest your making me feel uneasy" Emmett says from beside me.

"Whatever, how long till we get there" I ask glancing out of my window to see nothing but woods stretching as far as the eye can see.

"What since the last time you asked five minutes ago" he jokes "look I'm sorry for barging in on your…fun time with Sara" he says and I can hear him snickering quietly under his breath.

"Just drive Emmett" I sigh glancing down at my watch to see that its nearing seven at night "I'm going to take a nap wake me up at nine"

XXXXX

I wake with a start mumbling insanities as my heart pounds against my chest "Wake up sleepy bones" Emmett shouts over his obscenely loud music, his hand moving to turn the dial even higher, his head bobbing to the sound of Metallica. Groaning I let my head fall back against the headrest, my own hand reaching out to slap his away so I can turn down the volume back down.

"You still listen to that" I ask turning my head slightly glancing into the back seat in search of a bottle of water or just any drinkable liquid to quench my thirst.

"Sure I do, why what's the matter with my taste of music" he replies clicking his fingers to get my attention before pointing to an old rustic sign up ahead.

_Gas Station 5 Miles _

"Hope they have food" he groans making me laugh for the first time since seeing him "what I'm starving"

"Emmett you're always starving" I chuckle picking up an empty bottle in the foot well "besides that how do survive living on the road," I ask dropping the bottle.

"Meh, I survive just fine" is the only response I get, shaking my head in amusement I once again reach back into the back seat and pick up my rucksack to fish out my laptop.

"So Dad was last seen in Ohio," I state powering up my laptop and opening up a new search engine.

"Yeah Toledo, I don't know I mean I've looked Bella and nothing like our usual gig comes up" he says as I start looking for anything unusual happening over the past couple of months in Toledo. When nothing comes up, I frown in disappointment "see" Emmett states, obviously having watched me fail.

"I mean it has to be something otherwise why would he go" I speak more to myself than him "but there's no weird deaths, no disappearances not even unusual sightings" I list off as Emmett pulls into the gas station, cutting the engine he sighs looking over at me.

"I don't know kid but whatever this job is it's not right" he huffs getting out of the car and as I step out after packing my laptop back away I cannot help but be a little irked.

"Kid…I'm 23 now Emmett don't you think I'm a little old for that nickname"

"You're never too old" he states with a grin walking towards the Diner attached to the Station "besides I know how much you used to like being a kid" he says moving towards an empty table next to the window.

"Oh yeah I loved it" I mutter sarcastically taking a seat opposite him "you and Dad treating me like a burden on every job" I snipe taking a sip of the water that was already sitting there when we arrived. Glancing up at Emmett I see him eyeing me with a hint of anger; I raise an eyebrow silently asking him to explain what is up with him.

"A burden" he questions dropping the menu he was holding "you honestly think that, we were protecting you, keeping you safe Bella"

"Safe in a motel room all by myself, oh yeah I was real safe there wasn't I" I snap shaking my head at him and just as he opens his mouth to fire something back the waitress comes over interrupting our heated discussion.

"What can I get you both?" she asks and when we have both ordered she disappears leaving me and Emmett to deal with the awkward silence that has now descended over us. Sighing I pull out my blackberry and look through my messages, I have a few from some of my friends asking why I haven't turned up to the party yet and another from Sara. Opening it up I smile at the simple yet very precious message she has left for me.

_Love you baby Xxx_

I quickly type one back promising to call her when I get the chance and then put my phone back in my pocket just in time for our food to arrive. We spend the rest of the time eating in silence the only noises coming from the other customers in the diner. Looking down at my empty plate, I push it away to the side of the table and take another sip of my water. Being here with Emmett stirs up a hell of a lot of emotions for me because my childhood is plagued with run down diners and fast food "We should get going" Emmett says bringing me out of my mental musing.

"Yeah alright" I mutter standing up from the table and following him out of the diner "hey why not let me drive so you can get some sleep" I say and when he suddenly stops, I raise an eyebrow and watch in curiosity as he points at the car.

"Nobody drives baby but me"

"You and Dad" I correct holding my hand out towards him "come on fairs fair hand them over"

"I'm serious Bella, Dad gave her to me so I'm the only one who's driving her on this trip," he says walking towards it and jumping in the driver's side. Shaking my head, I follow him and get in.

"Never thought you'd be like this over a car" I mutter as Emmett pulls out of the car park and heads down the dark and deserted highway "your almost as bad as Dad…no wait" glancing over at him I smirk "your worse"

"Shut it short stuff"

XXX

Looking down at my watch, I check the time quickly before squeezing past an arguing couple that are currently standing outside the convenience store. I have ten minutes left before I need to be at the hotel to meet back up with Emmett. So far, our search for dad has brought us up empty handed; it's as if he just simply vanished off the face of the earth.

Sighing I head towards the counter; getting the picture off dad, Emmett and me out of my wallet as I do, "Hello" I greet when I stop in front of the pimple faced employee, who's watching the couple arguing on the securities CCTV. "I'm wondering if you could help me, I'm looking for this man," I say holding up the photo "he might have been here sometime last week"

"Nope don't recognize the guy," he mutters barely even glancing at the photo.

"Maybe if you had a proper look you could remember something, anything would be good" I say as I start to feel myself getting angry. I know I am young but youths these days do not give a shit about this kind of thing, their so wrapped up in their own precious little lives that they cannot be bothered to even look at a photo.

"Look some guy was in here asking about a man the other day, don't know if that's your man but," he shrugs and with that he goes back to watching the security camera.

"Who was this guy" I ask.

"Didn't give a name, just asked about anyone that had come in who was out of town"

"And what did you say, what did he look like"

"I said no of course and I don't know, mid-forties, long black hair about yay high" he describes holding his hand just above his shoulders. "that's all I know lady" he says when I open my mouth to ask more questions.

Shaking my head I turn on the spot and walk out the store "what a dick" I mutter under my breath as I begin to head back to the hotel, I just hope that Emmett has had more luck than me. When we first arrived here we quickly booked into the nearest hotel and then separated to see if we could dig up anything about why dad was here. I had left the room before Emmett could even tell me where he going, I barely even heard him shout to meet back here in two hours. I wanted this done with, I have my own life to worry about without having theirs resting on my shoulders again. I cringe at how that sounds in my head, but I refuse to go back into this life, as soon as we find dad I'm gone.

XXX

Emmett wasn't there when I got back to the hotel so I sat down at the end of my bed and got out my phone, its mid-afternoon so Sara should be awake by now depending on the state of her hangover. I press on her name and hold the phone to my ear as it starts to ring, after a while a hoarse voice finally answers "Hello"

"Hey baby it's me" I say soothingly "how you feeling"

"Like road kill" she croaks and I can't help but laugh a little "this is so not funny Bella"

"It is a little, I mean you got yourself into this mess babe don't expect any sympathy from me" I chide jokingly as I stand to get myself a drink out of the fridge, grabbing a bottle of bud I take off the cap and take a swig. "so anything interesting happen last night" I ask as I take a seat on one of the two single beds.

"Oh yes!" she says and I can hear the sudden enthusiasm in her voice "you will never guess who Jess hooked up with last night"

"Paul" I answer quickly because those two are always getting together at parties.

"Nope, she got with Lauren" and with that she bursts out laughing "I told you" she manages smugly, grimacing slightly I take another drink.

"Yeah well those two have been stuck together since school so I wouldn't put it past them"

"Yeah I guess, anyway how's it going, have you heard anything about your dad yet"

"No nothing, I've been going around all the local stores and asking if anyone's saw him but no has. Emmett's out there looking now but I'm sure he would have called if he found something" groaning I lay back onto the uncomfortably hard bed, my eyes closing briefly as I listen to the sound of Sara breathing softly on the other end of the phone.

"I seriously think you should reconsider phoning the police babe" she muses after a couple minutes of silence. Sighing I move up the bed until my head is resting against the cheaply made, wooden headboard "I'm just suggesting it Bella, there has to be more they can do" she reels off quickly after noticing my obvious hesitance towards the idea.

"I know" I mutter whilst scratching at the bottle necks small label. In truth though we can do much the same as the police, we can hack into their database and pull up any bodies records, and Deans all-time favorite is posing as the police.

"Then please consider it" she begs quietly before I hear a knock on her door "one sec babe" she mutters before heading over to answer it, I hear her great someone a few short seconds later "oh hey Nick" frowning I sit up quickly and press the phone closer to my ear.

"Hi Sara" he greets, just the sound of his voice has my heckles rising "I heard off of Jamie that Bella was out of town, so I just wondered if maybe you want to go get a drink with me"

"Motherfucker" I growl just as the motel door opens, looking up I watch as Emmett comes into the room with a white takeaway bag in one hand and a file in the other. He stops suddenly when he hears me, probably thinking I was talking about him, but when he sees the phone firmly attached to my ear he shakes his head before sitting down at the old rickety table.

"Trouble in gay paradise" he says with a smirk, flipping him off I quickly try and tune back into what's happening on the other end of the phone. I listen as Sara's beautiful laugh resounds across the room towards me, and I clench the bottle tightly in my hand in annoyance.

"Sure you don't fancy it" Nick's annoying voice husks.

"If she said no buddy I suggest you fuck off" I huff out as I listen to Sara politely decline. I wait for what feels like an eternity before he finally gives up and leaves with his tail firmly between his legs. A couple of seconds later I hear her picking the phone back up "I swear I'm gonna kill that guy when I get back" I growl out as soon as I know she can hear me.

"Bella" she laughs out "he's harmless babe"

"Really" I deadpan "cause last time I checked someone trying to get into your pants whilst you are with someone else, is nowhere near harmless" I real out quickly, my face suddenly turning red as I realize that Emmett is still sat right there listening to every word. Not having the bottle to look over at him I just stare down at the ugly crosshatched bed cover.

"Bella" Sara says firmly "one, I would never even entertain the idea of being with him. Two, I love you which means that I don't want to be with anyone else and three, just eww" laughing softly I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Sorry" I murmur "he just really pisses me off"

"I know baby" she coos into my ear "guess I'll just have to show you how much I love you when you get back" she mutters suggestively, smiling widely I nod my head - even though she can't see; before glancing over at my brother who is currently tearing into a hamburger like some starved wild animal.

"I'm gonna hold you to that, but right now I'm gonna have to go cause Emmett just came in"

"Ok babe, don't forget what I said about your dad"

"I won't, love you"

"Love you too" after hanging up the phone I quickly point towards Emmett and shake my head.

"Don't even start" I say, quickly silencing anything he's about to say. He just smirks at me before stuffing his mouth full of fries "I'm going to take a shower" I mutter in disgust "then we can play a game called 'was your day shitter than mine'"

XXX


	3. Chapter Two

Disclaimer – Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

World at War

II

Coming out of the shower fifteen minutes later, I walk out into the hotel room drying my hair "So" I start before sitting down opposite Emmett "what did you find out"

"Well" he says, looking up at me from his laptop "there have been a few disappearances in the area, but they were over twenty years ago"

"And you think there is some sort of connection" I question as I move a brush through my tangled hair slowly. I watch him close the laptop and huff as he leans back in the chair, stretching his arms above his head "I'll take that as a no" I mutter in defeat before standing up "I mean was he even here Emmett, or did he just give you the first place that popped into his head"

"Bella" he growls out in annoyance.

"What" I yell out as I turn back to face him "he hasn't been here, there is no reason or case for him to be"

"That we know of" he mutters prudently "there is something here Bella, I know you want to get back to your life, and I promise that as soon as we find dad I will drive you straight back, and you will never see me again if that is what you want" sighing he stands up and heads over to the fridge, he comes back a few seconds later holding two bottles of beer "just give me a day on this" he asks handing me one.

"Fine" I answer taking the bottle from him, opening it I head back to the desk and start to flick through the file on his desk. Several young women look up at me from old and worn newspaper clippings. I pick up one of a particularly pretty woman and begin to read;

_Mellissa Newton was reported missing three days ago from her home in Cleveland, Ohio, by her husband William Newton. She was last seen by her husband who claims she told him she was going to check on their three month old son Mike. The police have released a statement saying that they are looking into possible leads tied to the case, but as far they have been unable to explain the sudden disappearance. _

Humming softly I glance over at the other clippings before opening up my laptop, I type in the name _William Newton _and wait for the web to load "we should go talk to this guy" I say as I locate the correct person and click on his name.

"Who" Emmett asks as he unpacks his things absent-mindedly.

"One of the women missing, her husband still lives in the same town so we should speak with him"

"Ok" he says walking back towards the table where he picks up his wallet, he looks through it for a second before pulling out a familiar plastic card "there"

"Princeton University" I question glancing down at the I.D card with one of my old alias's on it "why do you still have this" I ask looking up at him, smiling he goes back to unpacking his bags.

"Cause I knew one day you would need it"

XXX

Glancing down at the address on my phone quickly, I look back up towards the old and run down house in front of me. Emmett shrugs his shoulders before walking up the mudded path that leads to a rotted, red door. Sighing I straighten out my jacket before following after him, stopping next to him I push the yellowed doorbell only for it to come off the wall and fall to my feet. Emmett snickers under his breath as he knocks on the door "Dick" I mutter just as an old washed up man opens the door slowly.

"What" he grumbles as he rubs at his eyes with oil stained hands "what did you call me" he asks suspiciously whilst looking me up and down. I do no more than stutter a bunch of incoherent words nervously, and for once Emmett actually helps me out on this one.

"Sorry Mr Newton she was actually talking to me" he rushes out before digging his hand into his pocket, producing his fake I.D badge "we are students from Princeton University doing a paper on all the disappearances that have happened here over the past twenty years"

"We were wondering if maybe we could talk to you about what happened to your wife" I say, finally managing to shake myself out of my stupor. The man runs his fingers through his greasy, black hair before opening the door and inviting us inside. As we walk through into the living room I quickly survey the rooms I can see, the open plan kitchen is filled with dirty dishes, the waste bin overflowing with old take out boxes and empty cans of beer. Glancing back at Mr Newton I smile slightly when he points towards the couch; inviting us to sit down.

"So what can you tell us about the night of your wife's disappearance Mr Newton" Emmett asks whilst I take out a small notepad and pen to take notes, I really don't need to do this but I have to at least sell the idea of me being a student here.

"Please it's just Will, and not a lot to tell you really. I was leaving for work, we said our goodbyes and then she went to check on Mike. That's the last I time saw her" looking up at him I notice that he still suffers with the knowledge that he will never see his wife again. I can't say that I don't know where he is coming from though, even though I remember nothing about mom I still struggle with it every day. Sometimes I'm unsure of whether I am happy or sad with the fact that I never fully knew her, to have known and lost her would just be too much, but not knowing her still makes me feel empty, like I am somehow missing a vital part of me.

Emmett coughs into his hand to break the eerie silence that has filled the room "Did the police never have any leads towards an attacker"

"They never found her killer if that's what you're asking, but there was that bastard Johnson. Complete weirdo, the police took him in a couple of times but they could never find any evidence to prove he did it"

"Why did they suspect him" Emmett asks. Will frowns before picking up an empty glass off of the tea table in front of him; which he proceeds to fill with whisky.

"He was obsessed with her" he mutters darkly after taking a sip of his drink "apparently he liked her since school, he asked her out a couple of times but she always knocked him back"

"And you think that maybe he came onto her again and after she said no he killed her" I question already knowing where he was going with this.

"He had an alibi"

"Who"

"His mother, he still lived at home with her at the time and she backed the fucker the whole way"

XXX

I smile at the waitress as she sets our food down in front of us and mumble a quick 'thank you', after leaving Will Newton's house Emmett had declared that he was starving seen as I made him skip breakfast. Sitting in the small café I pick at my food with little interest as he once again inhales his.

"So what do you think" Emmett barely says between mouthfuls of his burger. I ponder his question for a couple of minutes, what do I think? Well for one the fact that she disappeared into thin air is more than a little coincidental, why did the police never find a shred of evidence for any of these victims. Plus a connection that I made last night has been bothering me ever since, all these women had children aged 3 months at the time of their disappearances. I voice my opinion to Emmett and he just nods before going back to his food, but I can tell though that something else is playing on his mind.

"We should try and talk to this Johnson guy, I'll pull his file up from the local police station and find his address"

"Why don't you head over there, I have something I need to take care of" he says cryptically before pulling his wallet out and paying the bill. "See you back at the motel later"

"Wait Em-" sighing I follow after him a few minutes later and head back to the hotel. I find his address after easily hacking into the police database, what I didn't expect to find out though was that he had killed himself not long after Mellissa had disappeared. I wonder why Will had failed to mention that. I write down his last known place of residence in the hope that maybe his mother still lives there.

Twenty minutes later I arrive at the house and as I'm heading up the pathway I hear a timid voice callout "Hello" turning toward the voice I see an old but agile looking woman stand up from her knelt position. I quickly survey the pristine looking garden before smiling gently at her.

"You have a wonderful garden Mrs Johnson" I say as I walk towards her with my hand outstretched "I'm from Princeton University, and I'm writing a paper on the disappearances that have occurred here over the past twenty years"

"Let me guess, William gave you my sons name and now you're here to ask whether I think my son killed that woman" she voices angrily whilst glaring down at my hand; which I eventually let drop back to my side.

"No not at all Mrs Johnson, it's just that William was a little vague about what happened with your son"

"Well let me clear things up for you, my son was innocent. He loved that girl ever since he laid eyes on her, but she never showed him any interest. Then when she disappeared that husband of hers started shouting his mouth off about my son. In the end he couldn't take it anymore so he hung himself" she finishes with a small sob, taking a deep breath I lay my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry"

"What for you didn't kill him, that bastard did" she quickly dusts my hand off her before going back to tending her garden. Nodding my head I decide that I won't get any more out of her, but just as I'm about to walk through the gate something pops into my head.

"What happened to the son" I ask, she looks up at me with a small smirk on her face.

"Oh he was filed missing two weeks ago"


End file.
